Review of the latest entry in City Connection's Saturn tribute line, Batsugun. For more Switch shmup news, reviews etc, visit nshmups.com or follow us on Twitter: / nshmups
Batsugun is a top 10 Shootemup for me, simply based on how "right" it has always felt control wise. It also has that pick up and play quality that engages you and throws you squarely into the action. Your reviews are so thorough, fair and aware that there are all kinds of shootemup players out there, who approach the genre in various ways. I always come to your channel before I pull the trigger. I'll be picking up this physical port on Switch for sure.
Don't have or care for the Switch but you guys always are the first and monstly only reviewer for these niche multiplatform shmups so I come to watch. :)
Thanks - that's actually why I started this channel. There were often games I wanted to look up and...there was just literally nothing about them on RU-vid. And yeah, totally understand the Switch isn't for everyone, but I try to review the game as whole so hopefully it'll be useful for people getting the Steam / PS4 versions as well.
Armed Rider Batrider is definite one that I hope comes to Switch and other consoles seeing as how they(Taito) put it on the Astro mini. I want a good version of it, seeing how M2 did a good port for the MINI.
Great review! I'm happy to see that City Connection did a good job with this game. Do you know if they have already patched the other releases (Layer Section, in special)? I have put those on hold until they fix the damn input lag. And keep up with your work, I really like this channel.
*There is only one ORDER you must KNOW:* *1 = M2 (Perfect)* *2 = Hamster (Dreams come true)* *3 = CITY CONNECTION = Know for its input Lag (6 Frames and above)*
M2 takes the actual source from the pcb and reverse engineers it to work on the consoles hardware. And they strive to keep input lag less than three frames if possible.
I was hoping for a review of this game and Im glad to hear the port is decent. While I owned a saturn many years ago, I wasnt into shmups back then so didn't pick it up. Is the lag similar to their port of Layer Section or better / worse.
I ordered the PS4 and NSW versions 2 weeks ago from PlayAsia. Hopefully, get them soon. Ordered the Telenet Shooting Collection along with them to get free shipping. Lol
It is great news to hear that this game has a good port on the Switch. Batsugun is one of my most favorite shmups, it's my "ride or die" that I can always fire up on Mame when I don't know what to play in there. At least on the arcade version, the ship speed and responsiveness is second only to the later Cave games, and feels perfect in my hands. I can however excuse a little bit of input lag, if it's the price to play this game in bed with my Switch. Here's hoping City Connection now makes ports of other Saturn shmups, I'm thinking DoDonpachi the classic, and Battle Garegga.
Either or both would be cool! Of course it would be nice to see M2's Shot Triggers release of Garegga, but I don't think that's going to happen so a Saturn port would be very welcome!
@@ShmupsOnSwitch Yeah I've already lost hope that a forward port of M2's brilliant Ketsui, Garegga and Futari ports are coming to modern platforms, or worse, to PC.
@@varyagacebattle Garegga is available on PS4 already, there was a limited run release and they were selling a Korean language version of it on playasia also
Man if the original Dodonpachi and Battle Garegga came to switch id shit id also like to see Battle Bakraid Air Gallet Donpachi and Dangun Feveron come to switch one day
Thanks for the test, i was waiting for this’one since last week when i see this port . The only question was about the input lag for me . I m hot for batsugun because i never play it well on mame , with a good sound
This guy tests input lag as a priority in his reviews and he has just reviewed Batsugun: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-P3rvjHBB8yY.html
I just couldn’t justify getting the game for the Saturn with those prices, so I’m happy I could get a physical version for the Switch 🥳, I hope they keep bringing more of these awesome Saturn shmups to the Switch too, like HyperDuel (it’s good to dream 😂) Now if only I could solve the mystery of what Jeeno shouts when you pick his character 😅
Better, for sure. Batsugun was one of the better performing games on the Mini V (although that's not saying much), but this has the SP version and a good amount of extra features.
@@ShmupsOnSwitch Agreed it was one of the better ones on the Mini V, glad to hear the Tribute version is better! It's a shame the Mini V can't receive updates like the Egret 2 Mini!
Level ups beyond 3 gives bomb. I'm inclined to call it proto-danmaku. It's clear where Cave's foundations lie with this. Bit of Trivia: Iceman is Joker Jun's self-insert
They did say something like that, yeah. Don't know when, but they've got some deal with Limited Run Games (and their new European subsidiary, I think) it seems. This was actually on western eShops ready to be played and they suddenly pulled it just before release day - I assume at the behest of Limited Run.
Not yet sadly. It was, but then it got pulled last minute over some deal with Limited Run. It'll come back eventually. You can get the physical though, which has all menus etc in English. It's also still available on Steam.
I don't know how you can look at the lag and say it has "solid performance". City Connection are using the same engine to emulate this as they used for the Cotton Saturn port, so I doubt there is going to be any improvement since they will just use the same engine again on any future Saturn port.
I've always been pretty consistent about it. 4 (or below, although that barely exists on Switch) is great. 5 or 6 is solid enough and not really worth commenting on positively or negatively. 7 or 8 is not good although I'd imagine a lot of more casual players could still have some fun. Anything more and you're talking real, real problem territory that next to no one is going to enjoy. I'm aware there are people who feel more strictly about things than I do, but there are also people who are more forgiving. You can't take account of every group out there. Edit: Just to be clear, I'm only talking about on Switch. The console is weaker and suffers from more issues than other contemporary systems, so you've got to be realistic as to your expectations with it.
I don't mean to be rude with this question at all (as I'm just curious), but why exactly does the audio hiccup/stutter in your videos when switching gameplay clips like at 2:14 ? Like, is it a recording issue, audio problem or something with the editing? Something with a specific program or whatever? Doesn't bother me, just wanted to know Also, good to know that this port is solid (or at least serviceable enough in spite of some input lag) before importing it.
That is a good question - and one I'd love to know the answer to myself! I know exactly what you're talking about, and it does bother me, but I don't know why it happens. I just make these videos using Windows' built-in video maker and 30 second clips recorded natively on the Switch. Windows recently majorly updated the software and the problem has started since then. I usually try to synch up changes of gameplay with breaks in speech, but at some point in the video, you always get this stutter and from that point on everything seem to go slightly out of synch. Thing is, when I make the video in the edit mode, everything runs back fine - it's only when I export it that the problem appears.
Same, I know a lot of people were worried. I think the deciding factor on these S-Tribute games will be how good the base Saturn port was. If that was good, City Connection's Switch port will be similar.
What's the input lag do you know? That what makes or breaks Shmups. Especially releases like this where it was originally designed to have 1 frame of lag. Not a good port if they can't get close.
If you're not going to be happy unless it's close to 1 frame, I don't understand why you would even consider playing a Switch port - not just of this, but of any shmup.
@@ShmupsOnSwitch I'm surprised that's your response with the title shmups for switch. Isn't the idea behind a port to bring the experience to a new platform? Well the thing about shmups is they, unlike any other genre, have the core of their experience designed around reaction time. How can you not see that reaction time then, is the most important part of the shmup experience to transplant? That's like saying, "are you really not going to be happy if a fighting game doesn't let you fight against other people?" It sounds ridiculous because competing against others is the core of the experience for fighting games. Well reaction time is the core of the experience for shmups, why do you criticizing me for caring about the preservation of a genre I like? M2 does it with every shmup they've ever ported, City Connection themselves even did a good job with Mushihime-Sama, why is it bad if I ask if they did well again with this?
If you want ports with close to 1 frame of lag, the Switch is not the platform to choose. You will pretty much never get that sort of response on the system. People play on Switch for convenience, portability etc. I 100% understand how important input lag can be to a shmup and obviously want things to be as responsive as possible, but the sort of arcade perfect performance you're requesting is simply not going to happen with Switch ports. This isn't a criticism, it's just fact: If what you're after is ports that have close to 1 frame of lag, there is no point in playing on the Switch and what you need to do is invest in original hardware.
@@ShmupsOnSwitch you didn't really read my post. I said they should get close. And I praised M2 and City Connection for releasing shmups on switch with around 3 frames of lag. I just wanted to know if they did *something they've already successfully done before* or if they released another shmup with 8 frames of lag
@@GhibliNovaif I had to guess, he did not do any type of testing for input lag. This was most likely a sponsored, show and tell type of presentation. If you want a honest, transparent review, we might have to wait for shmup junkie or someone like Electric Underground. Not criticizing the Op but that's what this video came off as
Yes it's a picture-perfect arcade mode on the Saturn. Plus, you have the added benefit of having the Saturn exclusive mode which is a another great way to play it. Saturn version of the game is still, in my opinion the best version to get
I saw the game in the US shop a few weeks ago but then it disappeared. I wonder what happened there, the game has English and everything, why they removed it from the shop I don’t understand.
@@ShmupsOnSwitch I know i picked it up and was shocked they finally released Akai Katana Shin on the United States eShop i picked that up instantly still think im dreaming that i now actually own it lol
I’ve only played this off Saturn emulation on my pc and it doesn’t emulate very well, awesome game though and think I will grab it. Great vid, I feel for you though brother, some heads on here are just cut throat sheesh, give this dude a break
😂 Electric Underground shat on this as usual....hes telling everyone they'd be better off getting a Saturn ODE to play this. Cotton Saturn Tribute scarred him for life.
@@zhukov2116 let's be real. Batsugun is incredibly hard to 1cc. Lag or no lag. A lot of these shmups were made to eat coins just like the arcade beat em ups.
@@karnovjunior I don't know what that is an argument for. Batsugun is hard but it's on the easier side as far as hard goes, and if you are playing 20 year old shmups in 2023 then there is a good chance something is there for you other than just credit spamming for a bit of fun. 6 frames of lag really ruins the game play to some people that like to play on a serious level, whether that's in trying to get a high score or just trying to do your best and improve. I'm not even good at shmups but I can feel lag like this and I can feel how it affects the game. The Cotton Saturn port was really awful to play and judging by tests this isn't much better. Batsugun actually plays great on my Saturn ODE so I will keep enjoying the game there.
great game, not so great price, at least digital , i am a fan of the S TRIBUTE but to think this costs more than ELEVATOR ACTION RETURNS is kinda weird.
@@karnovjunior sure, nothing wrong, but $70 for SF6 is for some people something they can play for years, $50 for me for example for a game i would enjoy it to the max for 1 week is different. also this is digital, anw it is just my own opinion, i am just strapped for cash most of the time so i need to be careful, will wait and wishlist it and pick it up when it goes to $20 after a while.
The lag is intolerable. Really plagues a lot of ports in this genre, particularly from this dev. It's a bee in my bonnet ever since I almost abandoned shmups thinking I sucked but turns out it was the lag on my monitor and ports I was playing. Figuring that out changed my life. I'm surprised more people don't talk about that and how it creates barriers to newcomers. I just can't forgive it knowing how big of a difference it makes.
Bummer. I wonder how bad the Switch version is compared to the Sega Saturn release? $250 CAD for the latter. Not happening. I'm typically super picky when it comes to latency, but with shmups i can actually tolerate quite a bit.
I actually played the switch version in portable mode and it’s not bad. There was a game update. So I’m not sure if this helped input lag or not. I still think giving it a 9 is too much credit. I’d say maybe eight out of ten. And since Andro Dunos 2 is the best on switch and pc, I think it deserves a 9 out of ten. Andro Dunos 2 on the Dreamcast has a lot of lag. I’d say the input lag on Batsugun is just outside the line of being acceptable. 3-4 frames is good. 1-2 may be rare and only accomplished on a pc. But definitely not possible on a console. I don’t think you covering input lag deserves any backlash. Because I haven’t seen you cover input lag in any other reviews. Yes it’s a good game. But you don’t know how to rate some of these games that well.
I play in TATE mode all the time, but if I record footage that way it's going to appear horizontal for anyone watching, which would make for an awful video.
@@otachi_r2x458 What are you talking about? All screens can be rotated. I have 3 gaming monitors of various size and I made sure they all have rotating stand.
After seeing you rate Andro Dunos 2 7/10 and this game 9/10. I think you got the ratings mixed up. There’s no way in hell this version deserves a 9 out of 10. Each system has six frames of input lag. That’s including the PC, which you’d think would be a lot less. But surprisingly it’s no better. And the wiki page you list in the comments is out of date. The original Saturn version is only three frames of input lag. This zebra engine is making this port remake a lot worse.And the widget things off the side of the screen are completely useless. You could play a hacked Saturn rom with an arranged soundtrack with retroarch on pc using the yabasanshiro core and it would be well worth playing than this. And you can’t even buy the game digitally here in the u.s. So the only real reason anyone would even consider buying this would be for the portability factor on the switch. And that’s it. And maybe the the arranged sound track. But that’s really the only things that really stand out from this watered down release. So I don’t foresee a lot of people buying this game. Unless they bring it out on the switch digitally for less than half the price. Therefore with Andro Dunos 2 being updated, I give it a 9/10. And this version of batsugun by city connection a 6/10.
I'm kinda dissapointed in your review. And we all know why. I smell some sponsored bullsh*t. Another review like that and I will have to unsubscribe. Too many subscribtions and too little time. Shmup community is quite niche and small and you'd better keep the quality bar.
"You'd better keep the quality bar." Lol. Or what? You'll 'have to unsubscribe'? Oh no! What an entitled prick. Unsubscribe if you want, mate, it's no skin off my nose. (And for what it's worth, if I receive a code for free, I always say so right at the start of the video.)
Oh no. I'll miss you dearly, input lag clown I've never heard of. But hey, thanks for letting me know you unsubscribed. What a powerful stand you've taken, you brave, brave little man. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, yeah? Bye!
